OKONKWO: OBI WAS LIKE IRON.

By Emeka Obasi

Departed Heartland Coach, Christian Obi was so strong that his Enugu Black Rocks team mates nicknamed him ‘Mkpuru Igwe’ (Iron). He became popular when the youth side defeated Bolaji Oni Babes, Lagos to lift the Ramat Cup in 1980.

Obi who died in a motor accident recently, was in goal when the team won the Cardiff Cup in Wales and moved on to pick a FIFA Under 20 Championships bronze in 1985 and an African Nations Cup silver with the Super Eagles at Algiers ’90.

Late coach Christian Obi

Charles Okonkwo, one of his Black Rocks pals sent a befitting tribute from London.

“We called him Mkpuru Igwe or Iron. For a goalkeeper, he wasn’t tall but he had a tremendous spring on those not so long legs. He could have played for Rangers but Rangers had proven goalkeepers and he had to go to ACB, Lagos.

“Christian Obi was one of those sort of guys that always leaves an indelible mark in your life. We met and started very early in the Anambra State Academicals as teenagers, with the likes of Ike Ofoje, Benjamin Okaro, Benedict Ugwu (Surugede), Louis Igwilo etc. He was our goalkeeper when Black Rocks won the Cardiff in 1980.

“He was a team player who seldom caused trouble in the dressing room or within the camp.
He was a joker who with his stuttering had many of us around him in stitches.

“In one of the matches Rangers played against ACB in Enugu, from a corner kick taken by Ofoje, I scored with a header. When we both of us fell on the ground, Obi gave me a searing painful bite on my back. No one noticed, in the ensuing jubilation. When I told the referee, the man said he didn’t see it. After the match, Obi told me that anywhere I come around his goal area in future, he will bite me again. We both burst out laughing.

” His death is one of those things that gets one thinking and put this life that we live into perspective. Here today, gone tomorrow. He would have made a good left back because he was a good left footer with a good football brain. Obi, a truly nice guy, will be missed by many people. I never saw him lose his cool.”

Another UK based Black Rocks buddy, Ejike Ekwueme, reacted. “This news can be likened to a dagger that pierced through one’s skin. Mkpuru Igwe was a quintessential gentleman, calculative, unassuming and a fearless goalkeeper. He will be surely missed. It is what it is, we don’t have any control. May his soul rest beautifully.”

Andrew Uwe, captain of the Flying Eagles in 1985 was shocked as well.”Obi was not just a gentleman, on and off the pitch, he was strong and reliable. I am pained that we have lost another keeper in a crash,” Uwe, who is also eyeing the Flying Eagles coaching job, told me from his base in Germany.

I did not know that Obi was at ACB until Okonkwo’s tribute. I knew him with Julius Berger. The former Eagles forward was also surprised to hear that Obi once played for the Bridge Boys, as a striker.

“He played for ACB before Berger. I am pretty certain of that. He spent most of his career with ACB. I must have played against him about seven times when he was there. I didn’t even know that he played for Berger,” Okonkwo informed me.

Those Black Rocks loved nicknames. They had Nkpokiti, Equaliser, Harass and Dankoroba. Okonkwo became Hurricane. Ugwu chose Surugede. Igwilo was Commander. Charles Okoye was known as Warrior, Tony Nzekwe, Hi Ace, Kingsley Onye, Mature and Aneke, One Touch. Joe Oha, Joe Mordi and Ofoma, had theirs too. Coaches Eto Amaechina and Obinwa must have had fun.

About 11 of the Black Rocks players ended up playing for Enugu Rangers. Obi was not a Flying Antelope. He relocated to Eko to join Lagos Rangers, ACB.
However, his younger brother, Emeka, later manned the post for Rangers in the 1990s.

A man of iron and steel, Obi was also lion hearted. He was Aloy Agu’s replacement when the Flying Eagles, beaten 2-1 in an earlier round by USSR, stunned hosts, Soviet Union to win bronze in 1985. Agu is Igbo for Leopard. Lion took over from the leopard in the USSR. The duo were silver medalists, five years later in Algeria.

Circumstances forced Christian Obi to be thrown into a match as Julius Berger’s striker during a league match in the early 1990s. It was news to Okonkwo.

“Really? Wow! I knew he sometimes joined us playing Five – a – Side.”

Unfortunately, Berger and ACB Football Clubs have gone extinct. Obi’s burial should be the responsibility of the Imo and Anambra State governments, supported by the Federal Government through the Nigeria Football Federation.

Other members of the Flying Eagles 1985 squad who are late include Godwin Eke, Osaro Obobaifo, Titus Mba, and Uche Ikeogu. Third choice goalie, Ikeogu, (who hailed from the old Okigwe zone, the same area where Obi lost his life), died in a plane crash while at Iwuanyanwu National,(same as Heartland), 30 years ago in Algeria.